It Is A Wonderful Day For Pie!

It’s a wonderful day for pie!

 

This Family Guy clip got me thinking about how Thanksgiving is certainly a wonderful day for pie! It is also a great day for turkey, gravy, stuffing and mashed potatoes. Do you see anything wrong with this spread? I’m not trying to rain on your Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade folks, but I don’t see one vegetable in sight! And my apologies to all of my green bean and sweet potato casseroles’ fans but it’s hard to justify those as actual “good-for-you” vegetables.  

Walking, Not Watching

In case you just returned from a week on Mars, you might not have heard that there was a really big storm this past week on the East Coast.  The reports said it would be powerful, and those reports were right.  Parts of New York and New Jersey were absolutely decimated. I live near DC so I was lucky… we did not get the brunt of Sandy’s wrath. It rained a ton - some nearby areas got 10 inches in less than 36 hours. There were some power outages, minor flooding and downed trees. But for the most part, damage was minimal in northern Virginia. Unfortunately for our fellow Americans just a few hours north, things were much worse and my heart and prayers go out to them.

Vote YES on Your Health

Back in May, I wrote a blog post called Genetically Modified Nonsense about efforts to require labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods – commonly referred to as Genetically Modified Organisms or GMO’s. I decided to revisit the issue as there is an important ballot initiative in California on this very topic which will be decided on November 6^th – along with the minor issue of who will be President of the United States.

Bacon Brussel Sprouts

Doesn’t this time of year make you want to eat some comfort food?  As weather cools down, I like to trade-in my favorite summer salads in exchange for some hearty roasted veggies. Last night it was broccoli, the night before that it was squash and peppers, and tonight it is going to be brussel sprouts!

We might not always think of vegetables as comfort food, but when you prepare them well, they will definitely hit the spot. Many of us should make it a habit to use vegetables to replace some of what I consider to be “fattening” side dishes like potatoes, pasta and rice. 

We Are Hungry

All of this thinking and writing about calories is making me HUNGRY… and apparently, I am not the only one!

Now that kids are back in school, there is a calorie controversy brewing in cafeterias across the U.S. The issue of the day is new school lunch guidelines.  Students are hungrier than ever because schools are now serving up significantly smaller portions of “healthier” food. Kids at Wallace County High School in Kansas are fighting back with a boycott and this music video parody called “We Are Hungry.”

Calorie Counting Conundrum

As many of you might have heard, McDonald’s started posting calorie counts on their menus across America this week. This move is garnering some praise for the fast food giant. Before we jump on the “McDonald’s is doing their part to combat diabetes and obesity” bandwagon, everyone should understand that this move simply preempts federal regulations that will require all restaurant chains with more than 20 locations to post calorie counts in their stores.  In essence, McDonald's proactively did something that will soon be required of them to do any way.  Marginally helpful, yes.  A selfless act of good corporate citizenship? Probably not.

I'm Back!

Perhaps you noticed… perhaps you didn’t… I haven’t written a blog post in quite a while. I admit it’s been a LONG summer hiatus. I’d like to tell you the reason you haven’t heard from me is because I took a nice long sabbatical – you know - travelled to exotic places to renew my spirit and of course, to study the health and eating habits of some of the few indigenous populations left in the world… Unfortunately, that is just not the case.